HAL and Nieuw Statendam thoughts from a HAL newb

[alyssamma]

This is my first HAL cruise...I'm on the 14 day midnight sun cruise. TLDR, happy overall with the product and would definitely sail again with the right price point. In fact, I have the same ship booked.for a TA next April.

 

For background we sail many different lines, only have status on MSC. Our current favorite line is Celebrity, but because of price increases we decided to try HAL.

 

Pros: Club Orange. The room upgrade alone paid for this, but really enjoy eating in the separate dining room. We've never had a wait for more than a minute or two and most times are seated immediately. The extra entree is a nice touch also.

 

Food. While we don't think it's as good as X, it's otherwise the best we've had at sea. We really enjoy the uniqueness of some.of the offerings. The pizza place serves breakfast food, popcorn, wings, sandwiches, etc. The burger place serves hot dogs and sausages. And, IMHO, these are all high quality items...not like other lines where the burgers, for example, are what you'd find in the buffet.

 

Staff. Wow...top marks all around.

 

Bar service. Other than the yacht club on MSC, first time I've never really had to wait more than a couple of minutes to be served. Outstanding attention and the drinks are very consistent and very good.

 

Room. We have a verandah. This will also get a con below, but the pro is the layout...very ergonomical, lots of storage space  and huge shower. We also have a massive balcony thanks to the CO upgrade.

 

BB Kings...simply the best band I've ever seen at sea.

 

Tamarind...part of food, but this is the best restaurant I've been to at sea. Still have to do Pinnacle and Rudis, but this was blew us away.

 

Laundry service...my shirts have never been this wrinkle free before. Didn't even realize they could be, lol. Consistently get back next day. Price was 147 for unlimited for 14 days and we were able to send some out on embarkation day. Beware however there will be tiny stickers in them...hard to find sometimes.

 

Crowds...I think the ship does an excellent job of handling a full load of passengers. Are there some places where it's hard to find a seat? Of course, but there are a zillion nooks and crannies...always a place to chill...and never really long lines for anything.

 

Cons: Ship layout. Simply has to be the worst layout I've seen ever. Surprising for a new ship. Very hard to navigate from one place to the next. Some things are tucked away in areas that if you don't take the correct elevator you're screwed, etc.

 

Room...while it uses the space well it is small. And while clean overall, the rug is filthy and needs a good cleaning.

 

Buffet...very poor design. Only.one passage to cross sides and that is where ice cream.is and creates a choke point. There is also a specialty restaurant there which is a weird experience when eating inside of it. Also, some stations are duplicated on both sides, but some are not. Not enough water stations. Only.place to get silverware is on the tables, so if you are taking food to go you have to steal it from a table.

 

Entertainment...like high school productions. Very disappointing.

 

Menu...it irks me I can't see the menu until the day of. This means when I book a specialty restaurant, I'm hoping the MDR won't be serving something I like. 

 

Events... virtually no notification until right before the event. The orange party wasn't announced until the day of and then no real.details given until the afternoon of. Yes, the app has some.of this, but the app sucks. Seems to be common for all cruise lines so didn't even explicitly list it as a con.

 

As I said above, overall very happy with this cruise and will definitely sail again. But, if the price was the same, I would choose X...but just barely.

 

[ExpatBride]

1 hour ago, alyssamma said:

Menu...it irks me I can't see the menu until the day of. This means when I book a specialty restaurant, I'm hoping the MDR won't be serving something I like. 

Have you asked to see the next day's menu or are you relying on the app? I'm a vegetarian, so I need to order a day in advance if I want something from the special menu. They've always brought me the next day's MDR menu along with the vegetarian menu, if I ask.

[alyssamma]

1 hour ago, ExpatBride said:

Have you asked to see the next day's menu or are you relying on the app? I'm a vegetarian, so I need to order a day in advance if I want something from the special menu. They've always brought me the next day's MDR menu along with the vegetarian menu, if I ask.

I have an allergy so they will give me the next day menu if I ask, but that doesn't really help. If I'm booking a specialty for a few days from now, or want to know when the special nights are in the MDR. For example, tonight is Gold Gala, but unfortunately I'll miss it because I have Rudi's booked.

 

This is a minor thing. As I said it irks me. But it won't stop me from.booking again.

[cruising sister]

I know others have complained about the app. I have had zero problems with it. I agree it’s hard to see several days ahead for the menu. I find it does not vary that much and I M ok missing any if it.
 

Tamarind was just ok for me. There was something off putting to me about the ambience. The service was very slow and the soft spoken women serving were frustrating to understand and I have great hearing. Dining solo I find either I am ignored or they serve super fast to get me out. 
 

[Mary229]

Thank you for a good review.  The menus are usually posted early to mid morning on the app, it should be the evening before or earlier.
 

I disagree about the layout of the ship but I like walking😉.  Otherwise I agree with your assessment. 

[alyssamma]

9 minutes ago, cruising sister said:

I know others have complained about the app. I have had zero problems with it. I agree it’s hard to see several days ahead for the menu. I find it does not vary that much and I M ok missing any if it.
 

Tamarind was just ok for me. There was something off putting to me about the ambience. The service was very slow and the soft spoken women serving were frustrating to understand and I have great hearing. Dining solo I find either I am ignored or they serve super fast to get me out. 
 

Honestly I hesitated saying anything about Tamarind.bwcause food.is so subjective...and if we came back we might have a completely different experience.

 

I agree the ambience is strange, esp with the sushi place in the middle. And the restaurant is impossible to find.

 

Our waitress was great, but completely understand that is the luck of the draw.

 

As for the app...I didn't really talk about it because all ship apps suck. This one keeps disconnecting and I have to restart it. Menus are downloaded as PDFs instead of just being able to see in the app. Finding hours things are open is for.aome reason under itinerary and not under the venue. If I want to easily see what's open now for food or drink I can't. Also, the hours posted seem to be wrong.

 

But I can say similar things about other lines.

[Roz]

@alyssamma, thank you for a well written, even handed review from a HAL newb.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Thanks for sharing.

[Native Floridian 26]

We were on NS Transatlantic in April and booked next year's while on board.  We loved the NS!  While the buffet did have some issues that you mention about stations on one side and not the other, we found the quality and variety of food to be unparalleled by any other line.  The omelets to order, the salads - unbelievable.

 

The layout we didn't find hard to navigate at all.  On our last MSC cruise we couldn't take a certain elevator bank to get to our cabin.  it took us forever to get to it the first time.  

[kopykat]

On 5/24/2023 at 5:46 AM, cruising sister said:

I know others have complained about the app. I have had zero problems with it. I agree it’s hard to see several days ahead for the menu. I find it does not vary that much and I M ok missing any if it.
 

Tamarind was just ok for me. There was something off putting to me about the ambience. The service was very slow and the soft spoken women serving were frustrating to understand and I have great hearing. Dining solo I find either I am ignored or they serve super fast to get me out. 
 

Cruising sister - are you on the Rotterdam in July? I’m a solo July 1-14 and love the Tamarind. Would you like a table partner one night? PM me at bakopel at umich dot edu if interested. I’ll let you days and times I’m booked

[Florida_gal_50]

On 5/24/2023 at 3:59 AM, Mary229 said:

Thank you for a good review.  The menus are usually posted early to mid morning on the app, it should be the evening before or earlier.
 

I disagree about the layout of the ship but I like walking😉.  Otherwise I agree with your assessment. 

I’ve never seen a menu posted the day before anywhere, certainly not on the app.

[Mary229]

9 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

I’ve never seen a menu posted the day before anywhere, certainly not on the app.

That is what I was trying to say - that it should be.  It is usually mid morning. 

Edited May 27, 2023 by Mary229

[Florida_gal_50]

2 hours ago, Mary229 said:

That is what I was trying to say - that it should be.  It is usually mid morning. 

While we are hoping, it would be nice to see each day of the cruise 😛.

[terrydtx]

Thank you for sharing your cruise comments. From 2007 (our first HAL Cruise) we had been loyal to just HAL, with one and done NCL cruise in the mix.. Then in 2019 we discovered the Celebrity Retreat and Suites, we fell in love with the product and almost sailed exclusively with X, until now. For about the same price of a HAL Neptune Suite, with far fewer amenities, we found we could book a Sky Suite with Celebrity and get a true 'Suites" experience over the last 4 years. Starting this year Celebrity must have made a corporate decision to price out their more loyal suites customers by raising their SS prices 30-40%. For example our January 2024 Australia cruise on the Edge was booked in February 2022 in a Sky Suite and today it's almost $3000pp more and all future cruises we have looked at are just as ridiculously priced. In March 2025, we are booked on a Santigo to Buenos Ares cruise on Oceania Marina for 18 days for $200pp less than a similar 14 night Celebrity cruise in a SS. Our future cruising plans look like HAL and Oceania are now in our future and Celebrity may be a thing of the past for us.

[terrydtx]

3 hours ago, Mary229 said:

That is what I was trying to say - that it should be.  It is usually mid morning. 

It's not like the chefs don't know, until mid day, what that night's menu will be.  It is also mid day when the diner menus are posted for that night outside of the MDR's.

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

Thank you for an excellent review.  

[Cruising-along]

On 5/24/2023 at 12:19 AM, alyssamma said:

Menu...it irks me I can't see the menu until the day of. This means when I book a specialty restaurant, I'm hoping the MDR won't be serving something I like.

Thank you for your fair review.  The NS is my favorite ship, many wonderful days sailing her.  

We sail Celebrity too, but not in a few years.  We have a cruise coming up in September on the Solstice.  Just curious, can you see the MDR menu sooner on Celebrity?  I don't recall that you can, but I may have missed that.

 

[terrydtx]

2 minutes ago, Cruising-along said:

Just curious, can you see the MDR menu sooner on Celebrity?  I don't recall that you can, but I may have missed that.

Yes, in the Celebrity app you can see the menu for every night months before the cruise departs.

[Florida_gal_50]

3 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

Yes, in the Celebrity app you can see the menu for every night months before the cruise departs.

You can see them nightly, one day at a time of course, on navigator.  The problem is that they don’t seem to match that closely to what I’ve seen on board. 

[alyssamma]

6 minutes ago, Cruising-along said:

Thank you for your fair review.  The NS is my favorite ship, many wonderful days sailing her.  

We sail Celebrity too, but not in a few years.  We have a cruise coming up in September on the Solstice.  Just curious, can you see the MDR menu sooner on Celebrity?  I don't recall that you can, but I may have missed that.

 

Yes... actually on ever other line I've cruised...Royal, Carnival, and X, you can see the entire menu.

 

I think you can on MSC also but always in Yacht Club there so it's a little different.

 

As I said it's annoying, but in no way will affect our booking future HAL cruises. We've already booked NS for a TA next April.

 

HAL also has way better itineraries than most other lines...MSC is the only other line we've seen with the same level of European itineraries.

[Cruising-along]

8 minutes ago, alyssamma said:

Yes... actually on ever other line I've cruised...Royal, Carnival, and X, you can see the entire menu.

 

I think you can on MSC also but always in Yacht Club there so it's a little different.

 

As I said it's annoying, but in no way will affect our booking future HAL cruises. We've already booked NS for a TA next April.

 

HAL also has way better itineraries than most other lines...MSC is the only other line we've seen with the same level of European itineraries.

Thank you.  I guess I should download the Celebrity app! 

[jules815]

Thanks for posting. My husband and I have never sailed with HAL, but there's a very good chance we'll be booking the April 7, 2024, Ft. Lauderdale to Rotterdam transatlantic very soon.  We have a wedding in Ft. Lauderdale that was supposed to take place on April 13, so we're currently booked on a TA on Celebrity Ascent. Just got word that there's been a venue and date change to April 6th, so now we're looking at HAL, and tbh, we prefer this itinerary, which would be all new ports of us, including Bermuda.

 

I'll be all over this forum in the next couple of days because I literally know nothing about HAL, other than it skews older, which is fine with us. (66 and 62).

 

Question about Club Orange. Dress code for men? My husband isn't against dressing up a little, but for packing purposes, would a nice pair of jeans and a button down or polo work for dinners?

 

 

[alyssamma]

45 minutes ago, jules815 said:

Thanks for posting. My husband and I have never sailed with HAL, but there's a very good chance we'll be booking the April 7, 2024, Ft. Lauderdale to Rotterdam transatlantic very soon.  We have a wedding in Ft. Lauderdale that was supposed to take place on April 13, so we're currently booked on a TA on Celebrity Ascent. Just got word that there's been a venue and date change to April 6th, so now we're looking at HAL, and tbh, we prefer this itinerary, which would be all new ports of us, including Bermuda.

 

I'll be all over this forum in the next couple of days because I literally know nothing about HAL, other than it skews older, which is fine with us. (66 and 62).

 

Question about Club Orange. Dress code for men? My husband isn't against dressing up a little, but for packing purposes, would a nice pair of jeans and a button down or polo work for dinners?

 

 

Lol, we have that cruise booked so will be onboard with you if you take it. With club orange we booked an obstructed balcony and upgraded to an aft balcony.

 

I only have one data point but I'm shocked (in a good way) about the dress code. Even in the specialty restaurants people are wearing jeans and normal shoes. Some are dressed up but most are extremely casual. That being said, everyone is dressed respectfully...no ripped clothes, etc. I've been wearing tennis shoes to dinner and no one has looked twice at me.

 

As for the demographics...yes, most people onboard have children my age...I'm 57. But everyone is really nice and easy going.

[jules815]

46 minutes ago, alyssamma said:

Lol, we have that cruise booked so will be onboard with you if you take it. With club orange we booked an obstructed balcony and upgraded to an aft balcony.

 

I only have one data point but I'm shocked (in a good way) about the dress code. Even in the specialty restaurants people are wearing jeans and normal shoes. Some are dressed up but most are extremely casual. That being said, everyone is dressed respectfully...no ripped clothes, etc. I've been wearing tennis shoes to dinner and no one has looked twice at me.

 

As for the demographics...yes, most people onboard have children my age...I'm 57. But everyone is really nice and easy going.

This is all good. Yeah, he wouldn't be in ripped jeans. It would be basically what he was wearing to the office before he retired. 

 

Too funny about the passengers having children your age. We've been on Celebrity cruises where we've met older passengers on board who were really interesting. So that's all good too. Maybe on this cruise I'll feel young!

 

Anxiously awaiting the confirmation about the wedding date change. Now we're both really excited about trying a new line. I see you mentioned you sail on MSC in the Yacht Club. We have a b2b coming up in September on Seascape. My husband's referring to it as our "Caribbean Swan Song."  We've done the Caribbean so many times we're pretty burned out on the ports, so this one will mostly be about the ship. Now that we're both retired and have the time, we're looking at different itineraries. 

[terrydtx]

1 hour ago, jules815 said:

Question about Club Orange. Dress code for men? My husband isn't against dressing up a little, but for packing purposes, would a nice pair of jeans and a button down or polo work for dinners?

Absolutely. I find nice jeans to be a little too heavy for wearing on hot weather cruises, so I wear long pants (Chinos) and very nice, collared golf shirts, button up shirts and/or Hawaiian shirts. Dress for CO is the same as the rest of the ship for both men and women.